


The Redcoats of Kyoshi Island

by Young_Hellsta



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Napoleonic Era - Freeform, Scotsmen Stranded on Kyoshi Island, The Gaang and the Scotsmen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 01:01:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30013719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Young_Hellsta/pseuds/Young_Hellsta
Summary: Colonel Arthur Mackenzie of the 74th Highlanders was taking his regiment to their new duty of garrison duty in India as a quiet retreat after the climatic Battle of Waterloo when the fleet transporting them was engulfed in an out-of-season storm in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Battered and low on supplies, the transport fleet limps in search for the nearest landmass, and finds an island protected by girl-warriors with a high suspicion of outsiders, especially those wearing red.Now Col. Mackenzie must determine a way back home before he and his regiment are drawn into the intensifying conflict with the Fire Nation, all the while protecting his only source of food supply.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 2





	The Redcoats of Kyoshi Island

**Part One: A Most Curious Storm**

_ A surprise Indian storm blows the unsuspecting 74th off course... _

* * *

Colonel Alexander Mackenzie, of His Majesty’s Seventy-Fourth Highland Regiment of Foot, stood near the helm of the transport  _ HMS Cheval de Frise _ , the lead of a fleet of 4 troop ships and 2 escort warships. The regiment and their escorts were on their way to a garrison posting in Calcutta, which was expected to be quiet for a few years as a break from active service during the waning days of the Napoleonic Wars. The men were quite happy with this low-action post, as they were mentally and physically exhausted from tireless campaigning against the French Empire and her allies.

Recently assigned with many recruits, this would give the regiment the time to train the new men and get them up to shape. This swell of recruits, nearly a full company’s worth, was due to losses taken in Spain during the retreat to Corunna, an action that had earned their regiment and several others honours for their rear-guard actions against the mighty French army that pursued them.

All in all, things were looking good for the 74th. Naturally, the exact moment that Mackenzie thought that, was when things veered so far off course that absolutely no-one on-board the 6 vessels could have predicted what happened next.

One of the men on the mast, up in the crow’s nest reported the makings of a storm ahead of the small fleet. The signal was sent up for the rest of the fleet to prepare to fight a storm, and the infantry, including Mackenzie all headed below deck to allow the sailors the room to perform their duties without interference. Above deck was controlled chaos, as the sailors prepared to battle the wrath of Neptune, as Captain Donner shouted orders and barked at less-than-productive men to prepare the ship for the storm to come.

Not an hour passed before the winds picked and rain began to fall in sheets. This was an Indian storm, tried and true, only it was out of season, the schedule of the transport fleet picked purposely to avoid storms such as this while far from friendly ports.

For four hours, the fleet battled the crashing waves and rushing rain, the unrelenting force of Mother Nature and the unyielding will of the Royal Navy clashed. Sailors managed the sails to maintain a common course without tearing the vital cloth, as the waves and wind pushed the ship around. The sailors organised themselves into rotations, to keep the on-deck crew from becoming too exhausted. The pilot struggled to keep the ship moving straight while referencing his compass all the while.

After an eternity, it seemed, the rain and wind let up and gave way to a lighter rain and calmer seas. Mackenzie chose this point to come back on deck, and asked the scout above to report on the position of the rest of the fleet. Miraculously, all six ships had made it, albeit worse-for-wear, they would be able to make repairs as the 74th disembarked in Calcutta.

It was several days later, when the coast of India should have been in sight, that Mackenzie considered that the fleet had been blown off-course. The pilot and the captain both insisted that they were headed in the correct direction, so land should be in sight any day now.

As the second week after the storm passed, Mackenzie was trying not to get angry at Donner, but as rations dwindled and land remained elusive, the Colonel’s patience ran thin. Donner had agreed a week after the storm that they were off-course, but refused to admit that the fleet was completely lost. Even a week of sailing should have seen the ships finding a British colony or island in the Indian Ocean, or even the coast of India itself.

It was the 17th day after the storm, when Mackenzie was having yet another meeting in Captain Donner’s cabin.  
“Captain, I believe we should spread the fleet into a search formation to find signs of land.” Mackenzie said.  
“I have full confidence in finding land without needlessly exposing our ships to possible attack by spreading them out beyond reinforcement range, Colonel.” Donner retorted with the same rhetoric he had used for the last week.

Just as Mackenzie was to call him out for such, a midshipman entered the cabin. “Sirs, the scouts aboard the  _ Hercules _ have reported signs of land to the north-west.” The  _ HMS Hercules _ was one of the escort frigates, armed with several guns more than the troop ships.

Donner jumped at the opportunity, “Redirect the fleet at once! Have the  _ Hercules _ lead us in and we shall find out just where that blasted storm has blown us.”

The sailor nodded and rushed out to relay the orders.

Within an hour, the orders had spread to the rest of the fleet and the  _ Hercules _ was leading the fleet northwest towards what appeared to be a lone island. Facing the fleet there only seemed to be a small set of docks. Mackenzie prepared two companies, the Grenadier company and his own battalion company, to land on the island and investigate it. Landing boats were prepared as the men stood-to on deck and the fleet approached the island.

Another hour later, the two companies landed and prepared to march inland, to investigate the docks that had been sighted from the coast. As the men marched down a dirt path, Mackenzie got the feeling they were being watched, a feeling honed from dozens of run-ins with French skirmishers. Before he could order any caution, a village came into sight, with about a dozen defenders. At a closer glance, these were… girls? Several girls, for they were just children, lined up at a pass in front of the village, dressed in what seemed to be Japanese armour and make-up, as their white faces and armour resembled what he had seen paintings depict samurai in.

“Company, halt!” Mackenzie ordered, then approached the girls with his staff close behind. The defenders looked at him with equal amounts of fear and scorn.

“Good day, my ladies.” Mackenzie began, “I am Colonel Mackenzie of His Majesty’s Seventy-Fourth Highland Regiment. I mean you and yours no harm, as my fleet has been blown off-course. Could you be so kind as to tell me just where we are?”

“This is Kyoshi Island, and we are the Kyoshi Warriors.” An older girl, who seemed closest to adulthood out of all the young faces, spoke.

“And you are?” Mackenzie prompted.

“Suki, leader of the Warriors.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Suki of the Kyoshi Warriors. Tell me, are all of your warriors, well, this young?” The colonel decided not to bring up the lack of men, since experience told him that all-women fighting groups absolutely hated that and would take it out on you and your manhood. “It seems fairly unusual to have such young people concerned about fighting and warfare, much less defence against a superior force as it seems you have prepared for, if your forces in the forest are any indication.” At this, Suki’s eyes hardened. “Rest assured, that my men and I truly mean you no harm, we just wish to make repairs to our ships and resupply while we can.”

“It is not often that such a large number of men come to our shore ‘just to trade’.” Suki responds skeptically.

“I admit, I was unsure of if we would have to defend ourselves against an attack by whoever lived here.” Mackenzies tells her. “And my men deserve some time on solid land before heading back to the seas.”

Suki considers this for a moment, then signals her warriors to stand down. “We can discuss this with the village elders in the town hall, if you’d like.”

“Of course. Allow me to get my men settled out here then I shall join you.”

Mackenzie rode back to the men and had them stand easy, for there was (hopefully) no reason for them to stand at arms while the negotiations took place. A messenger was sent back to the ships that the locals were not hostile, and negotiations for supplies and lodging were underway.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you've enjoyed this first chapter of a hopefully long series. More is to come soon!  
> A few notes on historical accuracy:  
> This story is not going to be completely historically accurate, as I am not willing to invest hours and hours of research for a simple topic in a fanfiction of all things. That said, there will be many aspects of this story that are in fact accurate, such as described dress for the 74th and drill words of command.  
> His (now Her) Majesty's 74th Highland Regiment of Foot was not actually a Highland regiment in 1815, as they were transferred to Lowlands status in 1808, with the introduction of new drill and a new uniform pattern. I've ignored this because I came up with a "74th Highlanders" before I researched who they were (or if they were a real regiment) and all of my drafts have 74th plastered all over them.  
> A similar note applies to Avatar. I am not re-watching the show just for this fic, but I will be looking to make sure my included canon is correct when I feel I need to. This mostly involves the order of certain events. Also, you can expect me to not be one of the low-effort authors who copies the script word-for-word without any purpose. I hate that. So I will be skimming many events that you already know and do not change in the scope of this fic, and only adding relevant script when needed, and even that might be paraphrased since, as I said, I'm not going to go back through the show just for this fic.  
> Besides that, I hope you've enjoyed the first chapter of Redcoats, and I hope to see you when I release the next chapter!


End file.
